Pencil sharpener



Oct. 18, 1949. M. c. GARRETT PENCIL SIiARPENER Filed March 15, 1947 l NVE NTO R Maurice (ZarZe; arl'dl.

Patented Oct. 18, 1949 warr n" 2 6, ts Hu i p7 v t i UNITED PAT FF-I-E 2'54sa441 seeds. 'SHA'RPENER dl laiirieddhai'ls Garrett,'New' YdrkfN. Y. enticement-mt 13, 1947, Serial No. 134,367 Weiss. (Cl. 120'9.6)

s erpeners and. .nartmulerlxane l sha pene a th mechanical n men-t n e e e wit movab cutte s ther i and c nn ti n ,b ra from the outside of the casing for actuating said utter im tant qbiect it nvent on is o r vide a pencil sharpener of small sizes, easy to use .andadapted to be conveniently and handily carried about'in a pocketpr handbag or other- Wise, upon the-person of the owner.

A furthqrobject to providea pencil sharpener of small compass and suitable shape, so as ,tobeportable, whichfcan be worked efiiciently, and is simple 'in construction, and inexpensive to. produce. l

The natureand advantages "of the invention are made clearin the following'description, and

the novel features are defined in the appended 2 0 claims. This disclosure however, is explanatory only and I do n0t'wi'sh to 'be restricted to the exact, design specified herein, but reserve "the right to. make alterations in details without" departure fromthe'principle of the invention or omission "of any 'of the "essential characteristics thereof.

.;On the drawings: Figure'l is an en'delevatiomshowing the operating connections of the "sharpener in "one position, ready "for the workingstroke.

Figure 2 is at similar view with the operating connections at the"'end' of the working stroke.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the sharpener;

tF sp fie is a s et iltthexeei- Figure 5 is a cross section an ure 3; and

Figure 6 is a detail showinga modification .ft li expe r. .FQ HRF S eatin I, c l nd c t e r w th enesnsl a w; t, th s'iteene bein creel e n e si ,ps endpith .n pertur t rz esee e,ee leeedh bars. hi h ma an. he mie i alnextw thenoey of magni e and the pencil (indicated at P) to be sharpened is inserted through the aperture 5 into the space enveloped by the bars 6. One extremity of the cutter has a projection or short shaft 1 afiixed thereto, and extending through an opening in the end 2 to the outside of the casing. Afilxed to this projection I on the outer face of the end 2 by any suitable means is a pinion 8, and piv- .a i tfie m mber en ine,

s eelies'efl outsi th Te si adi t.,t

otally mounted on "the casin'gjis a rocker o'r' lever 9, which actuatesa rack member ['0 arranged to mesh with the p'inionfl. When'the sharpener'is held in the hand, pressure on the rocker pushes the'rack down an dturns the pinion and the cutter 3. Themember In has theform'of a'frarne with an opening or slot ll 'which'receivesfth'e pinion 8, and has internal teeth IZon one" side to ,mesh with the pinion 8.

The cutter member is 'ade'up'ofroiihdedhds comprising a circular plate 'orLdis'klil adj l the end 2 and a circularrifi'g H 'at theobb end. This ring rotatabl y engages 'anjotherr ng I'5,"with a shoulder that forms 'abe'aringjior the ring 1'4, the ring It being mixe within the in 1, just back of'the di'skl'tfso that the'rrl nus covered by the disk 4. The 'di's'l; menu the ring 1 4 are rigid1'y united bythe longitudinal'bars 6, ofany suitable" shape, 'with' their faces adjacent the axis of the cutter cbncave'ahaecrl at as illustrated at 'ffi. The bars are separated alon their adjacent edges; and one outerface of each :is finished to present shouldered seats for cuttr lol'a'des or "elements 11. The bars'thusdfi'n'e a space of the configuration required for'the end of a pencil, and th blades all have their cutting edges in the right converging positions. Io'hbld the blades I1 fast on the' barsj l6, screws or the like 18 are utilized, -and' the bars can be made H w t e Pa t 13' eii f iin a y t e manner. The dish I3 fits the bore of the casing I and can revolve therein,

The rocker 9 is attachedat one end to d sk 19v me n of b r lugs 18 r-th 'p s eand tr lm n 20. on h ...ro t s. t an ersel cu ve testi t e..'=. n ur o t e e he rack is attached to the opposit e end'ofthe roclger lever bymeans of pivot pins 2|, engagingslots 22 in lugs or bearings 23 on the underside of-the rocker. The connections comprising therack and pinion include means for causing the cutter to rotate in one direction onlyyand to this'end the cutter makes its working stroke when the rack moves in the directionof the arrow in Fig- .ure 1; but the rack unmeshed from the pinion 8 when it moves in the opposite direction. The rockerhas a..projection 24 at one side on the adjacent end, this projection being bent down at the side thereof, and clearing the end 2 of the casing. Uniting this projection to the rack are two links 25, pinned to said parts at their opposite ends. These links tend to assume the diagonal positions presented in Figure 2 because of a tension spring 26 afiixed to the projection 24 at one end and to the rack at the other. In Figure 1, the links hold the rack 16 against the pinion 8; and in Figure 2, the spring 26 maintains the pinion and the rack out of engagement.

The rack moves in a guide 21, a little wider than the rack on the end 2 over the pinion 8. This uide has shoulders 28, and is affixed to the end 2 of the casing at its outturned ends 29. A leaf spring 30 afiixed to the casing tends to lift the rocker and rack, and a similar spring 3| attached to the casing has its end entering an aperture 32 in the rack and resists motion from the position of Figures 1 and 3.

When a pencil is thrust into the sharpener, the rocker 9 is pressed down by hand to cause the rack It! to rotate gear 8 and cutter 3. So long as the rocker is held away from the casing l by the spring 30, the spring 26 tilts the rack about the end of the spring 3i as a pivot to the extent permitted by the slots 22 of the lugs 23, which receive the ends of the pins 2i. The rack I0 is thus unmeshed from the pinion 8 and the spring 3! holds the rack 56 motionless till the rocker has moved far enough to cause the links 25 to take positions shown in Figure 1, stretching the spring 28 and moving the rack to engage the pinion 8. Further pressing of the lever 9 now rotates the pinion 8 and cutter 3. The end of the spring 3| is smaller than the hole 32.

When the pressure on the rocker is eased the spring 38 lifts the rocker, but the rack does not immediately follow because of the friction of the pencil in the cutter. The first reverse motion of the rocker as indicated in Figure 2, therefore, swings the links 25 to diagonal position and the spring 26 pulls the rack Ill out of mesh with the pinion 8. Both springs 36 and 3| now cooperate to return the rocker 9 and rack I0 to starting positions. Thus the cutter always rotates in one direction and never backward.

On the ends of the casing are outside grooved ribs 33 to receive the ends of a sliding closure 34. This closure overlies an opening 35, through which the casing can be emptied of dust and shavings when the closure 34 is moved to clear the opening 35.

Figure 6 shows the pinion 8 connected to the projection or shaft 1 by forming these two parts so as to constitute a one-way acting ball-clutch connection. The pinion has tapering recesses 36 in the edge'of the opening therethrough; and in these openings are balls or rollers 31. The recesses 36 are so arranged that when the rack moves down with reference to Figure 6, the pinion is revolved; and when the rack makes its return stroke, the pinion revolves freely and does not turn the cutter. The links 25 and springs 26 and 3| are discarded and the guide 21 fits over the rack more closely.

In both forms of the invention the slots 22 are wide enough as shown in Figure 3a for the pins 23, to give good operation when the rocker is pressed down.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

1. A sharpener comprising a casing, a cutter member therein and having a projection, the casing having an opening through which said pro- 'ection extends to the outside thereof, a rocker pivotally mounted on the casing, and connections between the rocker and said projection to actuate the cutter member.

2. The sharpener according to claim 1, wherein said rocker has the form of a lever pivotally attached to the casing and said connections comprise gear teeth on said projection and a rack for meshing therewith and united to said lever.

3. The sharpener according to claim 1, wherein said rocker has the form of a lever pivotally attached to the casing and said connections comprise gear teeth on the projection, a rack for engaging said teeth and united to the lever, and parts attached to the lever and the rack and operable to control the latter to impart motion in only one direction to the cutter member.

4. The sharpener according to claim 1, wherein a leaf spring is disposed between the casing and the rocker to return the latter to starting position.

5. A sharpener comprising a casing, a cutter member therein, said member having rounded ends, bars joining said ends, blades secured along the length of said bars and having their edges converging about a central space in the cutter, the casing having an opening in registry therewith, a shouldered ring in the casing having a seat for one of said ends, the opposite end having a projection extending to the outside of the easing, and means on the projection and outside of the casing to operate the cutter, said means comprising a rocker pivotally mounted on the casing.

6. A sharpener comprising a casing, a cutter in the casing having a projection, the casing having an opening through which the projection eX-. tends, a pinion fixed to the projection on the outside of the casing, a rocker pivotally mounted on the casing, a rack attached to the rocker for meshing with said pinion, a guide for said rack on the end of the casing and covering said pinion, the lever having a turned-down projection adj acent the rack, a pair'of pivoted links joining the rack to the projection, a coiled tension spring between said rack and said projection, the rocker having slotted bearings, and the rack having pivot pins engaging said bearings and springs on the outside of the casing, separately engaging the rack and the rocker, for the purpose set forth.

7. The sharpener according to claim 1 wherein said connections embrace a pinion having a oneway clutch connection with the projection to be rotatable by the rack in one direction only.

MAURICE CHARLES GARRETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file, of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

